Shock Survey

A recent Pay Survey has revealed what members of the public think certain occupations are worth and what others think we should really earn.

A BBC survey suggests the bosses of Britain's top 100 companies should be paid about £118,000 a year. Those questioned also put the pay of Premier League footballers at £365,000 and financial bond traders and £58,000. The salaries are a big drop on their actual average pay - a 94% fall in the case of chief executives.

According to the survey, even if footballers were paid £365,000 - against their average annual pay of £1.7m - that would still make them the highest paid of the 15 professions.

The survey of 1,000 people found that most believed the prime minister, secondary school head teachers and train drivers should be paid less.

On the other hand, they believed care assistants and call centre workers should get more.

Those people surveyed were not told what the real pay levels were in those professions.

The findings, part of a BBC Radio 4 programme being broadcast today could be a shock for people in many jobs.

The BBC commissioned research from ComRes about what the public believes 15 different professions should pay.